5.  The applicant was born in 1959 and lives in Drwalew, Poland.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
6.  On 20 November 1996 the applicant was arrested on suspicion of aggravated robbery, kidnapping, false imprisonment and other related offences. It was alleged that the applicant had committed those offences with two accomplices and while acting as a member of an organised criminal gang.
7.  On 22 November 1996 the Warsaw District Court (Sąd Rejonowy) remanded him in custody. The decision was justified by the gravity of the charges against the applicant, a reasonable suspicion that he had committed the offences in question, the likelihood that a severe penalty would be imposed and the need to ensure the proper conduct of the proceedings.
8.  The investigation, which was conducted by the Warsaw Regional Prosecutor (Prokurator Wojewódzki), lasted until the beginning of April 1998. Originally, the proceedings had involved twelve suspects and twenty-five various charges against them. At the beginning of 1998 the charges against six persons, including the applicant, were severed from the case and the investigation against the remaining suspects was discontinued.
9.  In the course of the investigation, the applicant’s detention was extended several times by decisions of the Warsaw Regional Court (Sąd Wojewódzki) of 17 February and 16 May 1997 and a decision of the Warsaw Court of Appeal (Sąd Apelacyjny) of 12 August 1997. In all their review of detention decisions the authorities repeatedly relied on the original grounds for the applicant’s detention.
10.  On 20 November 1997 the length of the applicant’s detention reached one year, which at the material time was the maximum statutory time-limit for detention during investigation. On that date the Supreme Court (Sąd Najwyższy), upon an application by the Prosecutor General (Prokurator Generalny) under Article 222 § 4 of the 1969 Code of Criminal Procedure (“the 1969 Code”), extended the applicant’s detention beyond the statutory period. The Supreme Court considered that the fact that a witness had partly changed his testimony coupled with the need to confront a number of witnesses with each other constituted “exceptional circumstances” within the meaning of Article 222 § 4 of the 1969 Code and justified the extension of the applicant’s detention.
11.  On 19 January 1998 the Supreme Court ordered a hearing to be held on 29 January 1998 to review the applicant’s detention. Only the State Prosecutor (Prokurator Krajowy) was informed about this decision. The applicant’s lawyer was not summoned.
12.  On 29 January 1998, having heard the arguments of the State Prosecutor, the Supreme Court decided to extend the applicant’s pre-trial detention, relying on the need to carry out additional acts of investigation since one of the witnesses had partly changed his testimony.
13.  On 15 April 1998 the applicant was indicted before the Warsaw Regional Court (Sąd Okręgowy) on charges of aggravated robbery and false imprisonment. The bill of indictment comprised twenty-five different charges, including attempted murder, brought against six defendants. The prosecution asked the court to hear evidence from more than 180 witnesses, including several anonymous witnesses, and to examine several expert reports.
14.  On 26 October 1998 the Warsaw Regional Court made an application under Article 263 § 4 of the so-called “New Code of Criminal Procedure” of 1997 (“the 1997 Code”), which entered into force on 1 September 1998, and asked the Supreme Court to extend the applicant’s detention until 31 March 1999. The Regional Court noted that in the light of the evidence before it, and in particular the testimonies of anonymous witnesses, there was a strong likelihood that the applicant had committed the offences he was charged with. The court further observed that the proceedings could not be completed before the expiry of the two-year time-limit for pre-trial detention laid down in Article 263 § 3 of the 1997 Code because the trial had had to be postponed due to the fact that three of the applicant’s co-defendants were involved in separate trials which were being conducted concurrently.
15.  On 19 November 1998 the Supreme Court granted the request. The Supreme Court shared the opinion of the Regional Court that the nature of the case and the fact that the applicant’s co-defendants were involved in other criminal proceedings justified a further extension of the applicant’s detention. The applicant’s counsel and the State Prosecutor were present at the hearing.
16.  The trial began on 7 December 1998. Subsequent hearings were listed for 8, 9, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 22 December 1998 and 11, 12, 19, 20 and 27 January 1999. However, all hearings scheduled between 11 and 20 January 1999 were cancelled due to the absence on sick-leave of one of the lay judges. The next hearing, listed for 24 February 1999, was cancelled for an unspecified reason. Subsequent hearings were listed for 14 June and 1 and 15 July 1999.
17.  It appears that during the first-instance proceedings the Warsaw Regional Court scheduled forty-one hearings, of which sixteen were cancelled or adjourned.
18.  On several occasions the Warsaw Regional Court asked the Supreme Court to extend the applicant’s detention. The applicant, for his part, made many unsuccessful applications for release from detention and appealed against the refusals to lift that measure.
19.  On 5 March 1999 the Warsaw Regional Court once more requested the Supreme Court under Article 263 § 4 of the 1997 Code to extend the applicant’s detention. The applicant’s defence counsel had been informed of the date and time of the court session. He could not, however, present his arguments to the court because the case had been heard earlier than scheduled and prior to his arrival at the court. The court submitted that the applicant’s trial would not be concluded by 31 March 1999, that being the deadline for holding the applicant in custody as fixed previously by the Supreme Court. The Warsaw Regional Court noted that it was still necessary to hear evidence from a significant number of witnesses including six anonymous witnesses. In the court’s opinion, there were also other grounds that justified the request for the extension of the applicant’s detention, such as a reasonable suspicion that he had committed the offences in question and the severity of the expected sentence. In this connection, the court stressed that the offence of aggravated robbery, with which the applicant had been charged, carried a maximum punishment of eight years’ imprisonment.
20.  On an unspecified date, presumably on 15 March 1999, the Supreme Court ordered a hearing to be held on 24 March 1999 to review the applicant’s detention. The applicant’s lawyer was successfully summoned.
21.  On 15 March 1999 the applicant asked the Supreme Court to reject the application of the Regional Court of 5 March 1999. He argued that holding him in custody no longer served the interests of securing the proper conduct of the trial and that that purpose could be attained by other, less severe measures. He stressed that he had already spent more than two years in pre-trial detention. He also expressed serious doubts as to whether it would be possible for the trial court to complete the proceedings by 30 June 1999, given that the court had needed the whole of the previous year to hear evidence from forty witnesses and it still had 140 witnesses to examine. Furthermore, the applicant asserted that the procedure concerning the application to the Supreme Court made by the Regional Court had not been adversarial because he had not been informed about it. As a result, he had been unable to contest the court’s findings in respect of the circumstances relevant to his detention or the submissions of the prosecutor. He also advanced arguments as to the general inadequacy of the procedure for the extension of detention beyond the statutory time-limit, emphasising that it was inherently non-adversarial and left a detainee without any opportunity to challenge effectively the grounds for holding him in custody.
22.  On 18 March 1999 the applicant asked the Warsaw Court of Appeal to ‘annul’ the decision of the Warsaw Regional Court of 5 March 1999. His request was considered to be an appeal against the impugned decision and was referred to the Warsaw Regional Court. On 6 April 1999 the Warsaw Regional Court refused to deal with the appeal, holding that it was inadmissible in law as no appeal could be lodged against a decision whereby a trial court had asked the Supreme Court to extend a defendant’s detention beyond the statutory time-limit.
23.  Meanwhile, on 24 March 1999 the Supreme Court held its hearing in the presence of the applicant’s lawyer. The court fully endorsed the reasons adduced by the Warsaw Regional Court in its application of 5 March 1999 and decided to extend the applicant’s detention until 30 June 1999.
24.  On 14 June 1999 the Warsaw Regional Court made another request to the Supreme Court to extend the detention of the applicant and two co‑defendants until 30 September 1999. The court maintained that the trial would not be completed by 30 June 1999, the deadline set previously, since many witnesses had not yet appeared before the court and there had been difficulties in ensuring their presence.
25.  On 17 June 1999 the Supreme Court ordered a hearing to be held on 29 June 1999 to review the applicant’s detention. The defendants’ lawyers were successfully summoned.
26.  On 29 June 1999 the Supreme Court agreed to extend the applicant’s detention. The court considered that there were solid grounds for holding the applicant and his co-defendants, Z.R.R. and A.B., in detention. The court noted that even though the applicant’s role in the commission of the aggravated robbery had not been significant, he nevertheless remained an accomplice to the offences charged. His detention was therefore necessary in view of the existence of a reasonable suspicion that he had committed the offence in question. Moreover, the Supreme Court observed that the trial was being conducted efficiently and only practical difficulties had prevented it from being concluded, namely the absence of witnesses and the fact that one of the co-defendants, Z.R.R., who had initially decided to make use of his right against self-incrimination, at a later stage of the proceedings had agreed to testify. Finally, the Supreme Court expressed the opinion that the Warsaw Regional Court was likely to finish the trial before the expiry of the applicant’s newly extended period of detention. The applicant’s counsel was present at the hearing.
27.  The trial court failed to complete the proceedings within the period indicated. As a result, on 30 August 1999, the Warsaw Regional Court once more asked the Supreme Court to extend the detention of the applicant and his co-defendants on the ground that it would not be possible to terminate the proceedings by 30 September 1999. The trial court justified the delay by the fact that experts in psychiatry, who had meanwhile examined Z.R.R., had recommended that he be subjected to psychiatric observation for six weeks. In consequence, the court cancelled six out of ten hearings scheduled between 7 September and 8 December 1999. The trial court held hearings on 27 September, 22 October and 9 and 16 November 1999.
28.  On 14 September 1999 the applicant filed with the Supreme Court his comments on the application of the Warsaw Regional Court to extend his detention. The applicant asserted that the Regional Court had already heard all evidence relevant for the assessment of his criminal responsibility. He contested the legal classification of the offences with which he had been charged as well as the testimonies given by some witnesses. He also argued that the charges against him had no reasonable basis. Furthermore, the applicant stressed that his detention, which would soon reach three years, had already been exceptionally long and was putting a severe strain on him and his family. He argued that the measure ought to be replaced by another, more lenient means of securing his presence in court. In the applicant’s view, it was unlikely that the proceedings would be completed by 30 November 1999. In this connection, he submitted that the fact that Z.R.R. had been required to undergo psychiatric observation was not the only obstacle to the progress of the trial as most of the delays had been caused by the repeated absence of witnesses. The applicant asked the Supreme Court to consider the case in the light of all the available material and to reject the Warsaw Regional Court’s application.
29.  On 2 September 1999 the Supreme Court scheduled its hearing for review of the applicant’s detention for 17 September 1999. The defendants’ lawyers were summoned.
30.  On 17 September 1999 the Supreme Court granted the Warsaw Regional Court’s request and extended the applicant’s detention. The Supreme Court considered that, in view of the importance of the psychiatric observation of Z.R.R., a further extension of the date for the trial to end and, in consequence, of the applicant’s detention, was fully justified. The court held that, from the point of view of “general and specific grounds for detention”, there were valid reasons for keeping all defendants in custody. It was not explained, however, which particular grounds listed in the relevant provisions applied in the case. Referring briefly to the applicant’s pleadings of 14 September 1999, the Supreme Court observed that his arguments related essentially to the assessment and credibility of evidence, the legal classification of the offence and the likely sentence, all of which constituted circumstances which would be taken into account at the stage of conviction and sentencing. The applicant’s lawyer was present at the Supreme Court’s session.
31.  On 22 October 1999 the Warsaw Regional Court rejected the applicant’s request for release. The court relied on the existence of strong evidence against the applicant and the severity of the expected sentence. The Regional Court found no exceptional circumstances, as defined in Article 259 § 1 (2) of the 1997 Code, that would justify his release. Nevertheless, the court acknowledged the fact that the situation of the applicant’s family, namely his partner and his child, was difficult but not severe enough to have very serious consequences for them.
32.  On 2 November 1999 the applicant again applied for release, arguing that his detention, which had exceeded a reasonable time, was in breach of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention and, for all practical purposes, amounted to serving a prison sentence. The applicant stressed that the trial court had already heard all evidence relevant for the assessment of the charges against him and that his continued detention was putting a severe strain on him and his family.
33.  On 9 November 1999, the Warsaw Regional Court asked the Supreme Court to extend the applicant’s detention. The court submitted that the trial was not likely to be completed by 30 November 1999 because the experts in psychiatry had recommended that Z.R.R.’s psychiatric observation be continued for another six weeks. The court emphasised that hearings had already been scheduled for 14, 16 and 20 December 1999 and that the trial would continue through January 2000. However, given the extensive volume of evidence and the fact that the judges sitting in the applicant’s case had also been assigned to try other cases, the trial could not be accelerated. Lastly, the court stated that the grounds for the applicant’s detention were defined in Article 249 § 1 of the 1997 Code and they still applied.
34.  At the hearing held before the trial court on 16 November 1999 the applicant asked for release. The Warsaw Regional Court rejected that request. The court found that the applicant ought to be kept in custody in view of the existence of a reasonable suspicion that he had committed the offences with which he had been charged and the severity of the likely sentence. The court further held that there were no circumstances, as defined in Article 259 § 1 (1) and (2) of the 1997 Code, which would justify his release.
35.  On 25 November 1999 the Warsaw Regional Court rejected the applicant’s application of 2 November 1999 for release. The court referred to the reasons previously relied on. Moreover, as to the applicant’s family situation, the court observed that, while admittedly it was indeed “not too good”, it was not exceptionally harsh, as defined in Article 259 of the 1997 Code.
36.  Meanwhile, on 16 November 1999 the applicant asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the request of the Warsaw Regional Court to extend the preventive measure in question. He argued that his pre-trial detention had lasted three years and that he should be released in view of the difficult situation facing his family. His daughter suffered from a staphylococcal infection. Because his partner’s income was very low and the medical expenses and the rent were high the family lived in poverty. The applicant referred to the Regional Court’s decision of 22 October 1999, in which it had been acknowledged that his family situation was difficult.
37.  On the same date the Supreme Court scheduled its hearing for review of the applicant’s detention for 30 November 1999. The defendants’ lawyers were successfully summoned.
38.  On 30 November 1999 the Supreme Court, having heard the submissions of the State Prosecutor and of defence counsel, extended the detention of the applicant and other co-defendants until 31 January 2000. The court held that the grounds for keeping them in custody were still valid and that no exceptional circumstances existed to justify the applicant’s release.
39.  On 1, 2 and 5 December 1999 the applicant complained to different domestic courts that his basic constitutional and Convention rights, in particular his right to liberty and to a trial within a reasonable time, had been violated.
40.  On 13 December 1999 the applicant lodged a constitutional complaint (skarga konstytucyjna) with the Constitutional Court (Trybunał Konstytucyjny), asserting that the rules governing pre-trial detention were contrary to the principles of the presumption of innocence and judicial impartiality in that they authorised detention if there was a degree of probability of guilt and a likelihood that a severe penalty would be imposed. It appears that the applicant’s complaint was rejected for non-compliance with procedural requirements, namely for failure to have the complaint filed and signed by a lawyer.
41.  Between 14 December 1999 and 31 January 2000 the Warsaw Regional Court scheduled hearings for 14, 16 and 20 December 1999 and 4, 10, 18, 25, 26 and 28 January 2000. The court held hearings on 14 December 1999 and 10, 18, 25 and 26 January 2000, the remaining hearings being cancelled.
42.  At the hearing held on 14 December 1999 the applicant asked to be released. The court refused his request relying on the reasons previously given.
43.  On 10 January 2000 the Regional Court asked the Supreme Court to extend the applicant’s detention until 31 March 2000, submitting that the proceedings could not be terminated because the experts in psychiatry had submitted their report on Z.R.R. late, a witness had been ill, Z.R.R. had challenged the trial judges and hearings scheduled for 16 and 20 December 1999 had been cancelled.
44.  On 17 January 2000 the Supreme Court scheduled its hearing for review of the applicant’s detention for 25 January 2000 at 9 a.m. The applicant’s lawyer was summoned.
45.  On 25 January 2000 the Supreme Court held the hearing as scheduled with the State Prosecutor present and the defendants’ lawyers absent. The court agreed to extend the applicant’s detention. The reasons put forward by the Warsaw Regional Court were found to be convincing. Moreover, it was noted that the trial had reached the final stage and there were grounds for believing that the judgment would be delivered by 31 March 2000.
46.  At the hearing on 26 January 2000 the applicant asked the trial court to lift his detention. His request was refused on the same date.
47.  The next hearing was scheduled for 25 February 2000.
48.  On 29 March 2000 the Warsaw Regional Court acquitted the applicant of aggravated robbery, convicted him of false imprisonment and sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment. It appears that the court held that the applicant had not acted as a member of an organised criminal gang. By the time the judgment was delivered the applicant had already spent three years, four months and nine days in detention, which meant that he had acquired the right to be released on probation. As a result, the court released him from detention.
49.  On 22 February 2001 the Warsaw Court of Appeal heard the applicant’s appeal and upheld the first-instance judgment.
50.  The applicant did not lodge a cassation appeal.
51.  On 22 October 2001 the Radom Regional Court ordered that the applicant be put on probation for two years as he had already served most of his sentence.